USM Transfield Services Group was the company handling exterior services and snow removal for Walmart/Sam's Club Corporation. We began our relationship with USM in January of 2011 and should have known by their incompetance in handling paperwork that they would be a nightmare to work with. As an introduction to USM we sent in our sub-contractor agreement on six (6) separate occasions prior to them calling us yet again to say they had not received it. Even though I had all fax transmission reports and red receipts for all emails sent to them they still could not keep up with the paperwork. I finally began asking difficult questions and recording all calls and they began finding paperwork.
Our experience with them continued on this line when it came to Work Completion Reports as well. They would repeatedly lose the paperwork and then deny payment because they do not know where the paperwork is. Finally I got on the phone with Debbie concerning her nondescript email that simply said "This is in reference to store ####" I then called her and asked what the email meant and she stated that she sent them out to all vendors for whom she could not find the paperwork for spring cleanup completion. After approximately 15 minutes on the phone reminding her of things she found the paperwork and I had her read information back to me from the paperwork and digitally recorded her while doing so. Two days later, I received another email from her stating that payment could not be made without the paperwork. I played the recording back for her and her response was "Oh yeah, I have it in my hand right now... I'm such a dumb jackrabbit" Several days after that, I received an email from a manager telling me that none of my paperwork had been turned in so I called the operations manager and cut loose on him with all this information on the incompetance of his company. He informed me that he would personally handle it and get the payments out to me that very day. A week and a half later, still no payments, I sent him an email and he responded that the payments had been sent out on the previous Monday. Another week goes by and I call in and ask for someone in accoutning for exterior services and I did not immediately tell the guy everything that I had experienced or been told by USM thus far. The gentleman looked up the invoice numbers and stated that a check had been cut that morning but had not been mailed out as yet. I then told him the history behind the payments and he stated he could not imagine why Mike Vetter, the manager, would tell me that the invoices had been paid and mailed out to us already. In addition, USM contracts are draconian in nature and they have a number of ways to flat out cheat you out of your money if you do not stay on top of them every step of the way. They utilize an IVR call-in system which is required to use in the contract but the system is non-functioning half the time, we have sent these people over 100 facsimiles and just as many emails of work completion reports, invoices, compliance paperwork etc.. etc... and their people can never lay hands on the paperwork until you go legal eagle on them and start demanding answers in a not so nice way. Even their receptionist sucks... She just answers the phone "USM" and doesn't even wait to hear who you want to speak with, she will listen for a keyword then transfer you in midsentence or hang up on you. One day she hung up on me 3 separate time and then copped a blacktude with me yelling "Scuse Me" "Scuse Me" "I make show you get a voice mail".. These people are simply making large amounts of money off the backs of other that they treat poorly and pay less if at all. As soon as I get all our money, I intend to file a complaint with every organization I can think of against these people. They should either get their business together and be held accountable or close their doors.